Ham Radio Now

The audio version of our TV programs for and about Amateur Radio (Ham Radio). The video version is hosted at www.HamRadioNow.tv (and, to be totally honest, on YouTube). Our shows come in three flavors: Talk Shows, Seminars/Forums, and mini-documentaries. Sorry for the mash-up, but any episode may be in one (or more) of those categories.

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Bob Bruninga WB4APR invented APRS. He's had plenty of help, but it's still his show. While most of us use it to show where we are on a map, there are so many more aspects to it that Bob can't fit them all into a single forum. So this is kind of a 'greatest hits,' including my personal favorite: APRS isn't a vehicle tracking system!

At the beginning, Bob asks the audience if anyone "made a Voice Alert contact on the way here?" I hadn't really gotten the camera rolling, so I missed the first few words. And I've got a huge cold, so I don't feel like sitting in front of the camera or mic for an introduction, so BAM, the episode begins!

On audio, you'll miss the usual slides, but I think you'll get maybe 75%. And there are a few guests:

26:30 Don Arnold W6GPS introduces the new Kenwood D-STAR HT, along with some of the Japanese Kenwood design team, and AVMap updates.

36:30 is a quick shot with Byon Garrabrant N6BG with a couple of new products from Byonics.

42:50 Bryan Hoyer K7UDR from NW Digital Radio reviews their stuff (and the UDXR still isn't out, but the web site says "Q2..."

As usual with a forum, there are a lot of Powerpoint or PDF slides that the presenters are talking to. There are six speakers in a two-hour forum, so here's a rundown with times to get you to each one. The moderator is Scotty Cowling WA2DHF:

Dave Bell W6AQ became a Silent Key last week, so we thought we'd bring back our interview with him from December, 2014. Dave's talking about his new book, The World's Best Hobby. Dave was a member (founding member?) of what Gary call's ham radio's Hollywood Mafia (along with another SK, Bill Pasternack WA6ITF). These guys produced ham movies and videos back when that stuff was difficult and expensive to make. This goes so far back that the first ones were actually shot on film!

We've pulled this one from the vault. A conversation with CQ Editor Rich MosesonW2VU at the Orlando HamCation in 2012. This is Gary's first extended interview for HamRadioNow. Key word: extended. It set the tone for most future HamRadioNow programs, going in depth where most ham media (what little there was back then) thought a 5-minute conversation was all you needed.

The 2016 Dayton Hamvention® was epic once again. We've got a ton of video to edit – interviews, forums, extras – but first, we had to get there. This is another On the Road episode, this time using our new headset microphone (you almost can't tell we're in a car). Gary makes some contacts, works some DX, busts some pile-ups and pontificates as usual

You'll miss the scenery as Gary drives across the Appalachians through North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio. You'll miss seeing the radio panels that he finally manages to get in the frame while he's driving, and you'll miss some visual cues to what's going on. But mostly this is pretty good radio, so we'll give it an Audio Rating of B-. The '-' is because that mic doesn't sound all that good, but if you've got good ears, you'll hear a quality improvement when Gary plugs it into the mixer instead of directly into the camera. Gotta figure out what happened there....

Cyndi KD4ACW and Gary KN4AQ recorded this AUDIO ONLY episode aboard the EuroStar train from Paris to London going about 200 mph. They talk about their river cruise down the Rhein, and a couple days in Paris. There is NO HAM RADIO in this episode, so you've been warned.